۞ XI ۞

FEELING SADDER THAN BEFORE, I TURNED AROUND AND WENT TO the table where I had left my breakfast, then I took one of the sandwiches. And the guy sat down in front of me. "Were you thinking of this person while dancing emotionally like that?"

"Yes." The answer came faster than I could control and felt my face burn, "I mean, no. Hell no." To change the subject, I took one of the sandwiches and handed it to him. "You look Korean, I hope you are good with spices, eat it!"

Giggling charmingly, he bowed lightly and took it, than took a bite, "Hm, it's delicious. The right amount of hot sauce. Enough so it doesn't take away the taste of the cheese."

"Yeah," I mumbled still lost in my embarrassment.

"Your Korean is perfect by the way," what?

I blinked, and only then I realized I had been speaking in Korean with him. That made me blush harder. "Oh my God, sorry. That was rude. I didn't even realized I was… I… I'm sorry. I think I freaked out. It was rude to unconsciously assume that you spoke Korean just because you look Korean."

He smirked, "It's okay. I do speak Korean. My mother's Korean and I was living there for some years. My father is British and I spend my entire childhood and part of my teenager years here in the UK."

I nodded, "That's cool."

"So, who was this boy?"

Sigh, "Someone I used to know from when I was in school here in London. We were ice-skating partners," he gasped.

"I-i-ice skating partners? Oh my, that's sweet."

I denied, feeling sad again. "Well in fiction it is sweet and kind of romantic, but not in real life. Anyways, I lost contact with him when I was 15 and he loathed me."

"Did he say that?"

Scoffing I rolled my eyes, "His body language when we were practicing, said. Yes, we used to discuss in class, but I thought he was as excited with that as I was. But it seems like he took it personally. It's sad. I couldn't talk with him normally because he would ran away from me like a cat ran from water. And during our practice I didn't have the courage to talk about it."

"What's your name, Miss?" What?

I blinked, "Oh, damn. We haven't even introduced each other. Well, hm, I'm the gorgeous dark horse of the Van den Hoek family."

He raised his eyebrows, "Wait. Are you Elizabeth-Freya?"

"In flesh and bone."

"I have… heard a lot about you. You are the genius of the family who got emancipated and went to the MIT at 15, right?" Oh, so he's also aware.

"Don't tell me my parents bragged about that. It'll make me cringe so much, damn."

"Your brother Dean did it, actually."

Oh? "That's embarrassing, but I can see it happening. Yes, that's me. The weirdo of the family. The not-so-ugly duckling. Black sheet. Dark horse. Whatever you want to call it."

He bit his lips and I got myself staring at them again. I've only seen lips as unique and attractive as those twice, in Rhys Choi, and in Choi Yeonjun, an idol from Tomorrow X Together. How could I ever forget it?

I used to stare at his lips constantly because I craved to kiss him as bad as my lungs craved to breathe air. And it was hard to resist when we performed, and when we practiced, and every time I saw him.

"Well, I wouldn't call you that, darling, according to the rumors you are the smartest and most talented member of the Van den Hoek family," he said, and when I blinked, I notice how red his face was. Poor guy, must be cold too.

He doesn't look like Rhys, but the similarities between their lips is so unsettling that it hurts. "What's your name?"

"Choi Jung-won."

"Choi Jung-won," I repeated it, tasting the sound of it. "That's a beautiful name. Can I call you just Choi? It'll be easier."

A nod. "Okay, but tell me a way to call you too, instead of calling you by your full name."

"Freya. Freya is good. Everyone I know out of London call me like this. And what are you doing out here? Shouldn't you stay in the annex? Especially in such a weather. You shouldn't be coming out of the way to the lake house, Choi."

He tilted his head, "Why not? Your parents allowed us to go anywhere we want in here."

Sigh, "But I'm staying here with my-"

"Dear, are you up?" Chase voice echoed and he came outside, then smiled when he spotted me. "You already up, dear? Were you ice-skating?" He kissed my forehead.

A nod. "I was. Until I met this man watching me dance. He is one of my parents guests." When I turned to Choi, he seemed annoyed and his lips closed in a thin line. "Are you alright, Choi?"

He scoffed and got up, "You were crying about a boy, when you are already in a serious relationship enough to use rings? That's shameful, Freya. And here I thought you were different now," he let out a bitter laugh and left.

Me and Chase stared at each other. "What was that? Did you know each other before today?"

"No. I've never met him in my life. But it seems like he thought we are together," I looked at my hand, "which is stupid, since our rings don't even match."

Flower came outside and sat with us, "What happened?"

"I came here, saw Freya with a handsome guy, and then I greeted them. But he seem to have misunderstood the situation, since he thought me and Freya were a couple just because I kissed her forehead and we are both using rings."

She chuckled, "But the rings don't even match."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed and stared to where he had left. "Weird guy. Hot and all, but weird. He's with my parents' boss here. If they are all like him, it's better to avoid them until I can't anymore."

"Were you two flirting?" They asked together.

I raised my eyebrows, "No. At least, I don't think we were. That was definitely not flirting. So, no."

Flower bit her bottom lip, "He's really weird then."

"I'm telling you, girl. He's as weird as he is hot."